MG Sports Car Driving at Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah, circa 1950
THF238926 / MG Sports Car Driving at Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah, circa 1950
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Artifact Overview
In the 1930s, land speed racers everywhere began to flock to a landscape seemingly custom made for their sport: Utah's Bonneville Salt Flats. The hard, white salt provided a smooth running surface while the 46 square miles of open space offered plenty of room to speed up and slow back down. Typically, speed records were based on the average over an out-and-back run.
Artifact Details
Artifact
Slide (Photograph)
Subject Date
circa 1950
Creators
Collection Title
Location
By Request in the Benson Ford Research Center
Object ID
2010.37.7
Credit
From the Collections of The Henry Ford.
Color
Multicolored
Dimensions
Height: 3 in
Width: 3 in
Keywords |
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As automobile racing speeds increased, repurposed dirt horse tracks became inadequate. In the 1910s promoters turned to wooden boards, which provided a smooth road surface and were less expensive than bricks or concrete. But rotting wood required frequent replacement. Improvements in concrete and asphalt made board tracks obsolete in the 1930s. The 1.25-mile board track at Altoona, Pennsylvania, operated from 1923-1931.